Wanderer of the whirling world

Chapter 126 Jade Monument and Calculations

This cave occupies an extremely vast area, even if it accommodates hundreds of people, it will be effortless.

The top is tens of feet high, and it is a huge arch, like a canopy covering the sky, covering everything.

As soon as everyone stepped into the cave, they all felt awe-inspiring, and somehow felt a strange feeling, as if they had crossed an infinite space in one step and came to another world.

There is also a cool breath coming from nowhere, making the air no longer dirty and stuffy.

After going through the long corridor, many people immediately opened their mouths wide and began to breathe greedily.

Xin Ziqiu also looked around curiously. Although the fire here was dim, his spiritual sense was strong at this time, and he still had a panoramic view of everything.

I saw all kinds of mysterious patterns engraved on the dome of the cave and the surrounding stone walls, some were symbols, some were like characters like birds and insects, and some seemed to be large murals, but all of them were too abstract. It's limited, and I don't quite understand it, but it's all firmly in my mind.

In addition to the various pictures on the wall, there is also a huge jade tablet in the middle of the cave, more than ten feet high and seven or eight feet wide, smooth and flat, without a trace of stains.

I don't know what kind of precious jade this jade tablet is made of, and I don't know how many years it has passed, but it is still as crystal clear as suet. Under the dim light of the torch, it emits a halo of halo, which makes people feel warm .

Such a piece of jade tablet alone is worth a lot, but it is only used to guard the entrance of the cave.

On the jade tablet, there are dozens of shallow grooves about a foot long and two inches wide, all of the same size, but there are some horizontal and some vertical, which seem to coincide with a certain rule.

Xin Ziqiu narrowed his eyes with interest, he had a little guess in his mind, but became more and more curious and excited.

At this time, several old scholars began to study the pictures on the wall by the light of the torches, constantly amazed.

An old Hanlin surnamed Lu tried his best to widen his muddy old eyes, and shouted excitedly:

"This, here is the pre-Qin bird and insect writing! It is more complete and detailed than the records in ancient books. My lords, take a look, this is a priceless treasure!"

Another Sitianjian scholar surnamed Qi shouted:

"The ancient books on birds and insects are everywhere. What's so strange? You see, the pictures on this stone wall are the treasures. The above descriptions are pictures of the starry sky in ancient times, and the method of the ancient sages wishing you and offering sacrifices to the sky. And this picture is actually the same as The starry sky we see now is completely different, and I don’t know how the ancient Confucianism drew it, it is a unique and truly out-of-print historic site!”

The two started the conversation, and the other old scholars listened and began to comment on the pictures and texts on the stone wall.

Each of them learns differently, some study characters intensively, some are good at arithmetic, and some spend their whole lives in astronomy and calendar. They can get inspiration from the pictures on the stone wall, and they debate endlessly. There was a lot of chatter, and the atmosphere suddenly became lively.

At this time, Taiwei Hong coughed lightly.

The voice was not loud, but it was clearly transmitted to everyone's ears, and it contained a strange magical power of calming the nerves and calming the soul, which made everyone present stop discussing quickly and focus all their attention on him.

I saw him holding a torch, coming to the crowd and saying:

"Everyone, I am a vulgar person, I don't understand what you are talking about, such as bird and insect literature, ancient star maps, etc., but I know that this place is just the entrance to the treasure.

"If you think the carvings on the stone walls here are so rare, please imagine the value of the real collection in the ancient tomb. Instead of wasting time arguing here, we might as well go in and find the real treasure together, so as to live up to the official's trust .

"Most of you here are entering the ancient tomb for the first time, so I will first tell you about the situation last time.

"The team sent by the government last time was also led by the official. Unfortunately, we couldn't find our way here. However, we found two gold tablets inlaid on this jade tablet, one engraved with The pattern of the ancient divine beast Xuanming, and the other engraved with a calculation problem, according to the above, you must solve the calculation problem to enter.

"We had just received the notes presented by Zen Master Miaoqing at that time, and we were not prepared enough. No one in the team was proficient in spells, so we couldn't make an inch. Now, thanks to Xiaowei Xin who solved the calculation problem, we can hope to go further. Really into the tomb."

When everyone heard the words, they all looked at Xin Ziqiu. There were admiration, doubts, and jealousy.

Xin Ziqiu sensed all kinds of benevolent and malicious gazes, and accepted them all with a smile.

He has a strong heart and never cares much about what others think.

Just listen to Hong Taiwei continue to say:
"Unraveling the calculation problem is only the first step. There is no mention on the golden document of how to use the answer to the problem to open the treasure. Therefore, after getting the solution to the calculation problem from Captain Xin and verifying it with the Imperial College and Si Tianjian, The official convened a group of skilled craftsmen who are proficient in ventilation and water institutions to discuss countermeasures together.

"This jade stele only appears every three months. We guess it must be the key to unlocking the ancient tomb. But we can't see the real thing, only relying on the stone wall and the pattern on the jade stele that we have rubbed, no one can tell." Discover the mystery of it. So we all have to wait a bit, please come this time with a few civil engineering masters from the Ministry of Engineering to crack the mechanism first. Please put aside the debate and take a look at it together.”

When everyone heard that they had solved the calculation problem, they might not be able to enter the ancient tomb. They were a little disappointed. They came here with great fanfare, but they didn't want to return in despair if they couldn't even enter the door.

Hong Taiwei seemed to feel the change of everyone's mood, and continued:

"You don't have to worry, once this jade tablet appears, it will stay here for at least three days, enough for our skilled craftsmen to find a way to enter."

As he spoke, he called two people from the team, both were old men with gray beards, one was Xing Lin, and the other was Ye. They were both civil engineering masters recommended by the Ministry of Industry. They were good at various mechanisms and had even designed imperial tombs.

When the two of them saw the jade stele, their faces were filled with excitement. Holding the torch, they stepped forward, carefully rubbed the grooves on it, and concentrated their attention.

After a while, the master surnamed Lin said to Taiwei Hong:

"My lord, this jade stele is indeed the key point. The grooves on it all have organic springs, and the design is very delicate. As long as they can be pushed in the correct order, a certain mechanism should be able to open. But as for the order, This is probably related to the answer to the calculation question, but we haven't been able to understand the connection. Please calm down and calm down, we will do our best."

Hong Taiwei nodded and let them continue to study.

After half an hour, the two masters were sweating on their heads. They clearly felt that the clue was right in front of them, but they couldn't get in touch anyway. They couldn't help but doubt their own judgment.

Xin Ziqiu looked aside with his shoulders raised, and suddenly said to Jia Zhiqing beside him:

"Sister Zhiqing, do you feel that the horizontal and vertical grooves on the top look like something?"

Jia Zhiqing also sat on the ground and watched the two masters study the jade stele, she shook her head and said:
"I don't know, what do you think it looks like?"

Xin Ziqiu smiled:
"What were you doing when we first met?"

Jia Zhiqing recalled the scene when the two met for the first time, she suddenly touched the skin around her waist, and suddenly said:

"You mean... counting?"

When the two first met, Jia Zhiqing practiced the "increasing multiplication and opening method" with arithmetic chips in the ruined temple to amuse her. Later, Xin Ziqiu pointed out the calculation error, and because of this, she discussed the arithmetic problem.

Xin Ziqiu's miraculous performance that time left a deep memory in her memory, so when she heard him mention it, she immediately remembered it.

When I looked at the jade tablet again, I saw that the grooves were all slender and rectangular, with rounded edges, and the size was generally the same, as if the chips were arranged in a haphazard manner.

She is extremely smart, once she figured out this level, she suddenly became enlightened, her pretty face brightened, and she said with a smile:
"Xiaoqiu, what you said is really right. If so, then could it be that the way to open the treasure house is to use these 'calculators' to come up with the answer?"

Xin Ziqiu tilted his head, pointed at the jade tablet and said:

"I don't think it's far from ten. Look at the grooves on the upper left corner, horizontal and vertical. Does it look like a 'nine'? And you can't find similar patterns in other places on the jade stele." , there is only one of nine, which is exactly the same as the answer we got."

Counting is very similar to modern Arabic numerals, both are decimal, with the high bit on the left and the low bit on the right.

Only the writing of numbers is different. In the expression of counting chips, one horizontal line represents five, and one vertical line represents one. Therefore, nine means one horizontal line and four vertical lines, and eight means one horizontal line and three vertical lines. By analogy, it is very clear and easy to understand.

The answer to the arithmetic problem is nine thousand 760 seven. If you find the "nine" in the thousands place, it is not difficult to find other numbers.

When Jia Zhiqing heard Xin Ziqiu's words, she immediately became interested, and after Huoguang looked carefully, she found a "six" and two "sevens" after a while. Xin Ziqiu's guess fit perfectly.

She looked at Xin Ziqiu happily, with admiration on her face, and praised sincerely:
"Xiaoqiu, I really have you. I didn't expect the secret of this jade tablet to be deciphered so easily by you!"

In her excitement, she didn't stop talking about these words, and many people present heard them clearly, and immediately cast strange glances here.

Hong Taiwei has sharp ears and eyes, and he has heard the conversation between the two clearly, and said:

"Captain Xin, do you have a way to open the ancient tomb?"

Although Xin Ziqiu is not a showy personality, he can't do things like deliberately hiding his clumsiness. After listening to Hong Taiwei's words, he nodded and said:

"Qi Taiwei, I'm a little sure, you can try."

The two civil engineering masters were analyzing the mechanisms on the jade tablet bit by bit at this time, they stopped their movements when they heard the words, looked at Xin Ziqiu, and saw that he was only a teenager, and they couldn't believe it.

They have been studying mechanisms all their lives, but they still don't understand the secret of this jade stele. This little guy has seen a few exquisite mechanism arrangements, so why should he boast?
But they also knew that Xin Ziqiu solved the calculation problem, which was quite extraordinary, and seemed to be favored by Taiwei Hong, so even though they were dissatisfied in their hearts, they couldn't ask them face to face, they could only stand aside and watch obediently. It's all very complicated, looking forward to Xin Ziqiu making a fool of himself, but also a little curious about what he can do.

Xin Ziqiu walked to the side of the jade tablet, and calmly explained to Lin and Ye:
"You two, I don't know anything about mechanism art, but I have a little research on arithmetic. From my layman's point of view, I just feel that the grooves are like the counting chips we use when calculating arithmetic problems. Thinking along this line of thought, there are some solutions.”

When he said this, many masters of the Imperial Academy and Sitianjian who were present at the scene were immediately reminded, and they all looked at it seriously.

Quite a few quick-witted ones had vaguely thought of the answer.

I saw Xin Ziqiu put his hand into the horizontal groove in the upper left corner and pushed gently, the sound of the machine spring sounded, the bottom of the groove was pushed more than an inch deep, and it stopped there with a "click".

Xin Ziqiu pushed the four vertical slots under the horizontal slot again and again, the creaking sound of the machine spring continued, and a "nine" in counting suddenly appeared on the jade tablet.

At this time someone shouted loudly:

"I see! The way to open the ancient tomb is to press out the four numbers 'nine', 'seven', 'six', and 'seven' in the way of counting chips. No wonder there are so many indentations on this jade tablet. groove!"

Xin Ziqiu smiled while moving:
"exactly!"

The two masters Lin and Ye suddenly realized when they heard the words. Although they are masters of mechanical techniques and occasionally use calculation chips to do some calculations such as volume and volume, they are not experts in intensive arithmetic after all. The groove is connected with the counting chip.

Thinking that Xin Ziqiu didn't outperform him in mechanics, but that he specialized in mechanics, the two felt relieved, and the hostility was not as strong as before.

In the blink of an eye, Xin Ziqiu pressed all four numbers.

Just after he pressed the last groove, there was a loud rumbling sound, and the entire cave floor trembled violently, as if a mountain was falling apart and the ground was cracking.

Just when everyone was astonished, a crack suddenly appeared on the smooth stone wall.

The crack was just a slight black line at the beginning, but with the vibration of the cave, it opened wider and wider, and finally turned into a fan-shaped portal.

At the same time, the vibration of the cave stopped abruptly.

Behind this crack, another stone door suddenly appeared.

Everyone gathered together to have a look, and saw four kinds of strange beasts carved on the top of the stone gate, some with wings on their backs, some with the head of a tiger and the body of an ox, all of which were lifelike and mighty.

The one on the far left, with a human face and a bird body, with feet on a red snake, is the divine beast Xuanming.

If you look carefully, you can see that there is a small hole more than two inches long under each of the portraits of the beasts.

Taiwei Hong didn't need to wait for someone to remind him this time, he immediately reacted, took out the gold tablet engraved with the image of Xuan Ming from his bosom, gently inserted it into the small hole, and turned it lightly.

As if using a key to unlock the lock, there was a crisp sound, and the Xuanming pattern on the stone gate suddenly lit up, followed by the creaking and creaking of the stone gate...

……

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(End of this chapter)